"I find my attention diverted to a curious looking contraption in the middle of the room, a 'throwing-wheel' that sits no higher than my knee, and just by looking at how it is made; I can tell it was heavy. A slab shaped into a disc the size of a vinyl record is placed in a shallow basin and is attached to a motor that rotates the slab up to 40-rpms with a foot-pedal to control the speed. There are a few wires here and there, an on/off button and a switch that changes the rotation from clockwise to anti-clockwise for left-handed throwers. Nearby, a hair-dryer, a few brushes, sponges, basic cutting tools and plastic cards; nothing was left untouched by dry clay.
I noticed the floor was splattered with dried clay of different colors and the throwing-wheel sitting where it was; is the epicenter of what looks like shooting hurried stars spouting from a supernova in the middle of the room. Just next to the throwing wheel, a small stool for a throne where the Kiln Priestess sits to make her creations. She comes into the little room with the ball of clay, now ‘wedged’ and seamless without any cracks. She sits on her humble throne, places the ball in the middle of the throwing-wheel, throws a few switches, taps the foot-switch in place and the contraption comes alive."
It almost feels as if the
tiny room was turning
around with the throwing wheel.
The Kiln Priestess was in her
element. Water, earth, air, fire,
all harnessed into the making of this vessel
Water from a rough colorless
bowl is absorbed by a sponge
and positioned over the thrown clay.
The collected water is trickled down onto
the clay as it spins. It softens the clay
and is pressed to create an opening in the top.
Now opened, she ‘necks’ the top to
make the neck of the ceramic. Then
is pulled upwards with her fingers.
Delicately pushing the damp clay down
to make it hollow and pulling the excesses
from the sides up to make the piece stand taller.
A delicate balance between applying
just the right amount of water to soften the clay,
and not too much to literally throw it off the wheel.
A delicate balance between necking it into place
And not necking too hard to absolutely
crush the damp clay out of shape
She uses her fingers to minute precision
and caresses the wet clay and creates
a spiraling pattern on the surface.
The pattern spirals around the piece
creating an infinite line that runs around
the spun clay.
Tracing the lines with your eyes
leaves you hypnotized as the
Kiln Priestess caresses the vessel
All of us entranced following the etches
on the clay. The process makes the
foundation shape of the piece.
From the ball of clay it started from
to a shallow-wide vessel with a mouth to match
and now in its final form;
An off-white damp hollow round vessel
with the sides flat, the opening at the top
just enough to fit a small bouquet in.
She then picks up the hairdryer by the wheel,
places it in a another rough colorless bowl
and sets it at medium facing the still turning vessel
This is a preliminary step to harden to clay
allowing more elaborative designs to be applied
after it has dried.
She then picks up a plastic card to
smoothen the surface as it dries and
sharpens the details with a long-tipped wooden knife.
In another rough colorless bowl,
was a consistent-soupy-orange
concoction of iron and wet clay.
The Kiln Priestess uses a soft brush
for a wand and like magic applies
the desired design she has in mind.
The now mesmerizing lines weave
into each other. In an intricate fashion
fitting into each other’s grooves,
The Sahara-sunset orange pallet
graces onto the off-white like
a ballerina skipping into a Failli.
The colors blend into one another
tip-toeing side-by-side
like a couple of dancers.
Gliding on the off-white
like an invisible tide
into infinity.
The Kiln Priestess scalpels the bottom
detaching the vessel from the wheel.
Left to rest for a day, it prepares itself for the Kiln.
End of Part II.